Have an abundance of summer vegetables? Try making refrigerator pickled green beans, no need for canning. They’ll keep in the fridge for more than a month!
Quick pickled green beans are a snap to make and so flavorful. Brined with a spicy array of garlic, dill, mustard seed, peppercorns, and red pepper flakes, they are bursting with excitement. Aren’t they beautiful, all lined up in the jar?
Don’t worry, you don’t have to use an old fashioned canner and boiling water bath to make these pickled green beans. This recipe is seriously easy!
I just love quick refrigerator pickles. They have such fresh flavor and retain their crispness. I’ve found that you can quick pickle almost any vegetable. My popular pickled red onions are a staple in my kitchen. You can even quick pickle Italian style giardiniera often found on antipasto platters. Try this recipe from The View From Great Island.
How do you eat pickled green beans? They are perfect on a charcuterie board, as a delicious cold side dish or low calorie snack, or as an interesting garnish for a homemade Bloody Mary. You’ll want to try making these crisp pickled green beans soon.
About these pickled green beans:
As I mentioned above, these are quick pickled beans. They are not canned so they must be stored in the refrigerator. They’ll keep for at least one month.
You can use almost any glass jar. Look for one that’s about the same height as the green beans, so they can stand up nice and straight. Recycled jars are perfect as long as they have a tight fitting lid. A quart sized canning jar works well, too. Make sure your jar is spotlessly clean!
Begin by getting the brine ready. Add water, vinegar, sugar, salt to a saucepan, bring it to boil over high heat, boiling until the sugar and salt are dissolved. Set the brine aside to cool.
Wash and trim the beans, and arrange them in the jar. Add a garlic clove, a few sprigs of fresh dill, and spices. You can arrange everything artistically or just dump it in. The beans won’t care a bit.
Pour the brine over the beans. Tap the jar on the counter a few times to dislodge air bubbles, then fill to the top of the jar. Put the lid on and wait.
Seriously, this is the hardest part! The beans get better and better every day they spend in the fridge. You can try them right away, but they’ll be sort of a disappointment. Wait three days, and wow! Wait a week, and you’ll be blown away by how good they are.
So wait, watch, and anticipate. You’ll have plenty of time to enjoy your homemade pickled green beans!
How to make these green beans your own:
- Too crispy for you? For more tender green beans, blanch them before pickling. Bring a pot of water to boil, add beans for 2-3 minutes, drain, and put into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking and preserve the green color. When beans are cool, drain well, and proceed with recipe.
- If you like the beans to be more tangy, increase the amount of vinegar and decrease the amount of water. You can go up to half vinegar and half water. Use any regular vinegar: apple cider vinegar, white vinegar, rice vinegar, red or white wine vinegar.
- Experiment with the seasonings. Consider this recipe a starting point. Adjust the seasonings to your personal preference.
Storage Tips
Like I mention above, these are refrigerator pickles. You can store green bean pickles in the fridge for up a month or more. After that, the texture will deteriorate.
If liquid appears cloudy, dump them out.
Even though it’s tempting, don’t use your fingers to fish them out of the jar. Use a clean fork so you don’t introduce bacteria into the jar.
More quick pickles!
Love the idea of refrigerator pickles? So easy, and so tasty! Try:
Pickled Green Beans - make them your own!
Ingredients
- 1 ½ lb. fresh green beans, washed, stem ends trimmed or snapped off
- 2 cups water
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 clove garlic, peeled
- 1 teaspoon whole mustard seeds
- 1 teaspoon whole peppercorns
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 3 sprigs fresh dill leaves
Instructions
- In medium sized saucepan, combine water, vinegar, salt, and sugar; over medium high heat, bring to a boil, boiling until sugar and salt is dissolved, stirring occasionally. Set aside to cool slightly.
- Place garlic clove, mustard seeds, peppercorns, and red pepper flakes at the bottom of a large jar (most likely a quart size jar depending on the length of green beans). Arrange green beans vertically in jar and tuck dill sprigs into the jar.
- Pour the brine into the jar, covering green beans completely.
- Cover jar and place in the fridge at least overnight but preferably three days or more before eating.
- Store the jar of pickled green beans in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.
Notes
- Nutrition note: Since the beans do not absorb all of the brine, the sodium count will be much lower than reflected below.
- For tender green beans, blanch them before pickling. Bring a pot of water to boil, add beans for 2-3 minutes, drain, and put into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking and preserve the green color. When beans are cool, drain well, and proceed with recipe.
- If you like the beans to be more tangy, increase the amount of vinegar and decrease the amount of water. You can go up to half vinegar and half water. Use any regular vinegar: apple cider vinegar, white vinegar, rice vinegar, red or white wine vinegar.
- Adjust the seasonings to your personal preference.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did You Make This?Share a comment and rating below! I love hearing what you think!
We don’t have fresh dill, but we have plenty of dill seed and weed (dried). How can I use this instead?
The dill flavor won’t be the same, but this recipe is very forgiving. I’d use about a teaspoon of each.
Can this recipe be used for canning storage as well? We’ve been using it for refrigerator storage for the past 2 years and love it but I’m looking to store for longer periods as well.
I don’t have experience with canning so I unfortunately can’t answer that question, sorry!
These were a great quick pickling treat during a hot summer. This is a good recipe for refrigerator pickled green beans.
In response to previous questions about the recipe being safe for canning; because the ratio of vinegar to water is too low, it is not a safe recipe for canning. Canned pickled green beans have a much higher vinegar to water ratio. The high acid content is necessary to ensure that the beans(a low acid food) are safely canned.
So glad you liked them!
Can you use iodized table salt instead of pickling salt.
That will work!
Iodized table salt contains an anti-caking agent, which can make your pickling liquid appear cloudy. It is safe to use otherwise.